The present invention is concerned with a stable water and oil containing edible dispersion of reduced fat content. Another aspect of the present invention is a method of preparing a water and oil containing dispersion of reduced fat content.
Since the early seventies there has been a sharp increase in demand for food products of low fat content. As a result of this increasing demand, spreads were developed which, unlike butter and margarine, contain substantially less than 80% by weight of fat. At present, most commercially available low-calorie spreads have a fat content of about 40% by weight.
Research meanwhile has been continued so as to develop products of even lower fat content. In European patent application No. 0 237 120, for instance, spreads comprising less than 35 wt.% fat are described. The examples of the European application actually disclose spreads comprising from 15-25wt.% of a continuous fat phase.
Spreads having fat contents below 15% by weight have also been described in the prior art. German patent application No. 3 043 655 corresponding to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,279,941 and 4,273,795 discloses a spread comprising about 10% by weight of a dispersed oil phase.
The man skilled in the art is inclined to deem it impossible to prepare dispersions comprising less than 14% by weight of a continuous fat phase containing a substantial amount of solid fat at room temperature, as he would expect that only water-continuous dispersions can be obtained at such low fat levels and with such fat blends.
We have surprisingly found that, provided suitable processing conditions are employed, stable dispersions containing less than 14% by weight of a continuous fat phase having an N.sub.20 -value of at least 5, and more than 86% by weight of an aqueous phase can be prepared. Thus in a first aspect the present invention is directed to a stable edible dispersion comprising 95 to 86% by weight of an aqueous phase and 5 to 14% by weight of a continuous fat phase having an N.sub.20 -value of at least 5. According to a very preferred embodiment fo the invention the present dispersion contains at most 13% by weight of the continuous fat phase.
Here by a stable dispersion is meant a dispersion which after preparation can be kept for days at a temperature of 2.degree.-20.degree. C., under quiescent conditions, without any substantial water separation or phase inversion being observed. The term dispersion as used in this application not only encompasses fat continuous compositions comprising a discontinuous aqueous phase, but also compositions comprising a continuous aqueous phase, i.e. so called bi-continuous compositions.
Throughout this application the terms oil and fat are used interchangeably. They are meant to include triglycerides such as soybean oil, sunflower oil, palm oil, fish oil, rapeseed oil. coconut oil, chemically and/or physically modified products such as hydrogenated, fractionated and/or interesterified triglyceride mixtures and mixtures of two or more thereof, as well as edible substances that are physically similar to triglycerides, such as poly fatty acid esters of mono- or disaccharides and that may be used as replacement for, or in admixture with, triglyceride oil.
For many years various companies have invested considerable effort in developing very low fat spreads, so far only yielding water-continuous spreads and fat-continuous spreads comprising at least 15% by weight of fat. Due to a better understanding of the control of crystallization and, in case a gelling aqueous phase is used, control of gelation during processing, we have succeeded in preparing fat-continuous dispersions of extremely low fat content.